Tuesday, July 29, 2014

When
we first visited Hawaii, we were surprised to find macadamia nuts on
everything: fish, pancakes, pastries, and sugar coated like a candy. The rich
buttery flavor was delicious and we could not get enough of them until all the
fiber and oil in the nuts had an effect on our lower intestines.

On
subsequent visits we made sure to eat them in moderation. Now living on Hawaii
Island, macadamia nuts are an enjoyable part of our diet. Though
macadamia nuts are relatively high in calories (200 calories per ounce ) we
find just a handful is satisfying, perhaps because of the fiber content
(2 grams per ounce).

Since
we are focused on our diet, we were delighted to find that macadamia nuts
are very nutritious. The nuts contain Vitamin
B-6, thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin. They also have moderate
amounts of zinc, copper, iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and magnesium as well as small amounts of
fat-soluble vitamin-A, and vitamin E. Macadamia
nuts even have antioxidants like polyphenols, Amino acids, flavones and
selenium.

Another
great thing about the tropical macadamia nut is that it has one of the best Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acid ratio of any tree nut. Most tree nuts and vegetable oils have primarily Omega 6 fatty
acids, which causes inflammation if eaten in too great a quantity.

Themacadamia nut
is also a great source of healthy mono-unsaturated fatty acids, notably oleic and
palmitoleic fatty acids. These oils are great for your skin and your lungs.

On
Hawaii Island, macadamia nut plantations are plentiful and the nuts are sold
all over the island. We get them from local farms without salt or
sugar. The oil is a tasty replacement for olive oil on salads and macadamia
nut butter is a great alternative to almond butter. We grind the nuts
into a flour to use in crusts and biscuits.

The
tropical macadamia nut is another amazing food grown in Hawaii with high
nutritional value and great taste that helps keep us healthy and happy.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

We have been having
usual weather on the southern Kohala coast of Hawaii Island. The normal
desert climate has been overcast with high humidity. Usually the rain
clouds are blocked by the massive Mauna Kea Volcano and the trade winds keep
the humidity low and the evening temperatures cool. Remnants of tropical
storm Fausto, that made it to Hawaii from Baja California, are being blamed for
the hot, humid, rainy weather in Hawaii early this week.

This past
Sunday we were surprised to see a rainbow halo around the sun. A
circular rainbow, or halo, is an optical phenomenon that forms around the sun
when the sunlight is refracted in ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

Sun Halo on Kohala Coast

The light cast off by
the rainbow halo made the landscape seem surreal and dreamlike. Since we
consider rainbows a sign of good things to come, we consider this giant circular
rainbow an especially good sign.

Sun halos have
historically predicted rainy weather and the island has been getting a lot,
particularly on the east side. On Monday (July 14), while we were dazzled by
the sun halo, Hilo had a record rainfall of 4.34 inches which broke their old
record set in 1991 of 1.89 inches that day.

A new low
pressure system southeast of the island is moving towards Hilo and bringing
more showers. We will be on the lookout for more rainbows.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Every
day on Hawaii Island we cherish how great we feel when wake up in the
morning. It is a special type of joy to
awaken to the sounds of tropical birds, the smell of flowers, and the
sight of a brilliant sunrise.

Hawaii Island is careful to control light pollution in
support of the optical telescopes on Mauna Kea. There are lighting
ordinances that require shielded light and limited street lights. On
cloudless nights, the bright stars are visible above when we fall asleep at
night. According to Dr. Selhub, research shows that artificially
brightened night skies interfere with the sleep cycle by affecting melatonin
production and that even low levels of light during the night can interfere
with normal adult brain cell structures. Our very dark night sky helps us get
into a deeper sleep.

At night we hear calming sounds of nature.

We keep our windows open and can hear the wind blow
through the palm trees as we fall asleep. A Japanese research team at Chiba
University showed that sounds of nature, like the sound of a creek, changes the
brain blood flow to a state of relaxation. A study from Stockholm University
showed that nature sounds calmed people down whereas road traffic noise
increased stress based on measurable physiological markers. We don’t have noise from traffic or machinery
where we live. We didn't realize how quiet it was until we spent some
time in Honolulu last year and were unsettled by the constant background drone
of traffic, AC, and machinery spiked with loud sirens all night long.

We wake up to a symphony of tropical birds songs

Every morning the birds start to sing as the sun is
rising. Research published in Psychological
Medicine in 2006 showed that hearing birds songs in the morning lifts the
mood and decreases fatigue.

Blue light shines through our windows at sunrise

Early
morning light has more blue spectrum. The eye is very sensitive to the blue color (460nm) and causes the brain
to wake up, increase alertness, and boost concentration. Researchers at the University of Greenwich showed thatblue light made people
happier, more alert, and more productive. The blue spectrum declines the
most in the winter compared to other spectrums, but in Hawaii we do not lose
our blue spectrum light in the winter.

We
breathe fresh air and negative air ions.

Breathing
in negatively charged air ions, most prevalent in the morning, has been shown
to improve health. Dr Selhub cites research that shows
negative air ions reduce stress, depression, anxiety, and improve cognitive
performance. Negatively charged ions are
depleted by pollution, electronic devices, and in enclosed places. Being near
the ocean with warm tropical rain, gives us plentiful negative air ions in
Hawaii.

We have aromas from flowers all year long.

We love having beautiful, tropical flowers around us all
the time. Research at Wheeling Jesuit
University found that the aromatic chemicals in flowers can increase alertness,
even in extremely small concentrations.

We start every day by waking up to bird chatter, soaking
in the early morning sunlight, breathing in negative air ions, and smelling the
flowers. Now we know it is not just our
imagination that this place is good for our health.